Hong Kong shares close lower for 4th straight day; China banks end down - UPDATE |
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Thu, 11 Jan 2007 10:51
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HONG KONG (XFN-ASIA) - Share prices closed lower for the fourth straight session, reversing early gains driven by China banks as a weak Japanese market triggered renewed profit-taking in the afternoon, dealers said.China financials gained in the morning after news that they will be allowed to issue yuan-denominated bonds in Hong Kong but the stocks reversed course in late trade as the market's overall correction pressure proved to be too strong.The Hang Seng Index closed down 182.97 points or 0.94 pct at 19,385.37, off a low of 19,350.50 and high of 19,697.58. The index has dropped 823 points so far this week.Turnover today was 55.9 bln hkd.'The downtrend this week has continued following a failed attempt at a rebound in the morning. Chinese financials had to give way to strong profit-taking pressure as valuations are too high at this point,' said Marco Mak, research head at Tai Fook Securities.He said the Japanese market's fall provided investors 'an excuse' to sell in late trade.China banks reversed early gains, with ICBC finishing down 0.07 hkd or 1.51 pct at 4.56 after rising 0.22 pct in the morning.China Construction Bank was down 0.01 hkd or 0.21 pct at 4.67, reversing a 1.28 pct gain in the morning, while Bank of China ended down 0.03 hkd or 0.75 pct to 3.96 after posting a 2.13 pct gain in early trade.China's State Council, or cabinet, yesterday approved the issue of yuan-denominated bonds by mainland financial firms in Hong Kong, boosting sentiment on mainland financials in early trade.Analysts believe the measure will have a positive impact on banks, both mainland as well as local firms, in the long term.Local banks finished mostly higher on hopes of greater business opportunities, with Hang Seng Bank up 0.60 hkd 0.56 pct at 108.20, Bank of East Asia up 0.50 hkd or 1.15 pct at 43.85 and BOC Hong Kong up 0.17 hkd or 0.85 pct at 20.15.HSBC was, however, down 1.10 hkd or 0.79 pct at 139.0 following a downgrade by JP Morgan earlier this week.New listing Tai-I International closed at 1.64 hkd, down 1.2 pct from the IPO price of 1.66 hkd. It opened at 1.71 hkd and hit a high of 1.76 hkd. Tai-I is the first company to list in Hong Kong this year.Properties ended mostly lower, with the sectoral index down 148.67 points or 0.63 pct at 23,633.77.Henderson Land lost 0.50 hkd or 1.08 pct at 45.85, reversing a 1.08 pct gain in the morning, while Sun Hung Kai was down 0.60 hkd or 0.65 pct at 91.35, off its midday finish of 92.0.Cheung Kong was up 0.20 hkd or 0.20 pct at 98.20, but off a high of 99.45 hit in the morning.Among other stocks, Cathay Pacific was up 0.32 hkd or 1.69 pct at 19.24 after announcing strong passenger numbers.The airline said it carried 1.49 mln passengers in December, up 5.9 pct from a year earlier, bringing the total passengers carried by it in 2006 to 16.73 mln, up 8.4 pct.(1 usd = 7.8 hkd)leonora.walet@xfn.comlw/rc
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China state council allows expansion of yuan business in Hong Kong 